In the News: Water Shortage Strains Capital

A woman fills water containers from a tanker in a neighborhood of New Delhi, June 16, 2012.

The water crisis in Delhi only seems to be worsening, with reports that hospitals and malls are facing severe shortages – think no air conditioning and stinking toilets – and private consumers are facing exorbitant rates for a drink.

What’s behind the water shortage remains a matter of debate. Delhi blames the neighboring state of Haryana for not supplying the amount of water it requested. Haryana says Delhi’s getting more than its share of water but is so wasteful that there’s a shortage nonetheless. A meeting between the chief ministers of both states failed to resolve the issue, leaving Delhi, for whichever reason, scrambling for water.

News that the monsoon may be arriving a few days later than anticipated is only making matters worse despite Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s own personal gesture to the crisis: She has asked water authorities to curtail the water supply to her residence.

The biggest impact of the water shortage has been felt at some of the city hospitals, where life-saving surgeries have reportedly been delayed. The Times of India reported that the city’s largest municipal hospital, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, had to cancel as many as 40 surgeries over the past week because water required for the procedures couldn’t be arranged.

At other hospitals such as the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital, Ambedkar Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital, patients said they had to buy water from outside as hospital taps ran dry, the report said.

The newspaper also reported that at many of these hospitals, washing and cleaning to prevent infections had been put on hold and the toilets had begun to stink.

Many Delhi residents, meanwhile, are facing a sharp increase in the prices they pay for private water, sometimes as much as three times what they pay in more plentiful times. A report in the New Indian Express said that tankers use groundwater and sell it at rates of 1,500 rupees (approximately $26) to 4,000 rupees for a 10,000-liter tanker.

“At these rates, and consumption figures that go up to 400 liters per capita in the city’s tony neighborhoods, this tanker business has an annual turnover that runs into thousands of crores,” the newspaper wrote. Taking up all that water has hit supply levels, with The Hindu reporting that production capacity has fallen to 55 million gallons a day as water levels in ponds fell.

In hot times like these, malls are often the favored hang-out for Delhiites. But not anymore. Some malls reportedly have had to stop their air conditioning and close many toilets because of the water shortage persisted, hurting business, according to another Times of India article.

Water experts have said the perennial shortage of water in Delhi is in part because of its poor water management and failure to implement rainwater harvesting. Perhaps city authorities can learn from Delhi’s international airport, which has started recycling water and reusing it for toilets and watering plants. According to a news report, the airport saves approximately 25 million liters a day from rainwater harvesting.

Readers, are you facing water shortages in Delhi? Share your experiences in the Comments section.